Misplaced Trust (Misjudged) (14 page)

“Welcome to the love shack,” Zach says, pulling up outside the cabin at just a little after seven o’clock in the evening.

Smiling and feeling my cheeks
redden at his comment, I unclip my seatbelt and look over at him, “Are you not coming inside?” I ask, while checking my make-up and hair in the pull down mirror.

“No, I don’t think my cousin in there would be particularly happy, especially after all the effort he’s put in,” he answers, returning my smile when I go to open the passenger door up.

“What effort?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on him and watching as he throws me a look of innocence in return. “Thanks, Zach.” I say, stepping onto the stony driveway before going to grab my case from the trunk.

Opening it up, he lifts the case down for
me and insists on delivering me right to the door. He is actually a really nice guy. I need to quit judging people before I get to know them.

I’d been waiti
ng all day to hear from Brandon, with him finally messaging me at four o’clock, telling me that there had been a slight delay and that Zach would be collecting me as soon as he could. This was just over a half hour ago.

I’m nervous. I have absolutely no idea why
, but butterflies have entered my lower abdomen and feel as though they’re flying around in there at the speed of lightening.

My breaths are even becoming shallow. Shit. What the hell is wrong with me? It’s not like I don’t know him, for Christ’s sake it’
s Brandon after all.

“Enjoy your night!” Zach says rather excitedly as he knocks
the door once, before making his way over to the SUV, leaving me standing on the small porch way waiting for Brandon to open the door.

Hearing the SUV driving over the stones as Zach pulls away, I
try and open the front door but it’s locked. Huh. I decided to wait a few more minutes, messaging Brandon and telling him that it’s rude to keep a lady waiting, but I’m yet to receive a reply from him.

The cabin is sitting in the countryside, and there’
s nothing or no-one else around for a few miles. When he said we’ll have alone time, he really meant it.

I try looking th
rough a couple of the windows at the front of the cabin, but because the curtains have already been drawn, it’s no use, so I make my way around to the back of the place.

Pausing when I see him standing on the back porch, I notice that he’s wearing a black button down shirt, a shiny black tie, and a pair of silver-grey slacks. He looks edible.

“I’d better get going before she gets here,” I hear a woman say as she walks out through the double doors, attracting Brandon’s attention and making him turn around.

He hasn’t noticed that I’m standing here, and I don’t want to intrude
on their conversation, but I’m feeling slightly disappointed that we may not have the whole place to ourselves after all. I assumed that it would be just me and him.

I watch as he checks his wristwatch and begins to nod at her, “Yeah you’d better, she’ll be arriving any minute,” he says in reply to the blonde woman, and although I can’t see her clearly, I somehow think
that I recognize her voice from someplace.

“I love you, Brandon,” s
he adds, kissing him on the cheek and giving him a warm embrace. “Get your name cleared, and then everything can get back to how it should be.”

“I love you too,” he tells her, “that’s been my number one intention all along.”

Breathe, Alex, breathe.

I’m not particularly sure whether I should walk over to him this way, so he knows that I’m here and that I saw his interaction with his lady friend just now, or make my way back around to the front, so he isn’t aware of what I just saw and heard.

He wouldn’t be with anyone else, he wouldn’t. Why go to all of this effort and ask me to come out here if he didn’t want me to be here?

I head back around to the front, just as the blonde is climbing into a cab. I watch as she waves to him and blows him a kiss goodbye
from her open window, before the cab pulls away.

Hearing the door close
, I make my way up the wooden steps, taking a couple of seconds to compose myself before I knock on the door.

I’ve accused him before when
he had done absolutely nothing wrong. I won’t be making that same mistake twice. Lisa springs to my mind, and that particular night appeared a lot worse to what I’ve just witnessed here.

“Hey,” he swings the door open without me even having to knock, and so I smile at him as he opens it wider, allowing me to walk by him and inside. “Where’s Zach?”

“He, um … he said he didn’t want to interrupt anything,” I answer him, slipping out of my jacket as I watch him bring my case inside. “How has your day been?”

Taking my jacket from me and hanging it up on one of the hooks in the hallway, he lets out a deep sigh before grabbing my hand and walking me through to the living room, “Now that you’re here, it just got a million times better, let’s put it that way.”

“Why did something happen?” I feel my face fall at what he just said.

“Apart from going out of my mind
from missing you and wanting you here with me? No,” he answers, a wide smile crossing his lips as his eyes roam over me. “You look fucking amazing.”

Blushing when he tells me this, I allow my eyes to roam over him,
thinking the exact same thing. His hair is styled in his usual chunky spikes, and don’t even get me started on the way his shirt fits his body to perfection, with a couple of the buttons at the top undone.

I wanted to look good for him, even though I knew we would be
locked away in here for the night. I chose to wear a figure hugging, sleeveless black dress, which stops just above the knee, with a square neckline. Smart, sexy, but in no way slutty.

Our attention is drawn
over to the beeping sound that’s travelling through from the kitchen, and I see his face light up as he makes his way towards the doorway, “I’ll be right back!”

Looking around the place, it feels a little like a show home. Everything has its place, and nothing is out of place.
It’s quite modern and stylish, with all the up-to-date gadgets.

Hearing him curse, I walk through to
join him, and see him standing with his back to me while shaking his head and continuing to mutter a few more obscenities under his breath.

A strong smell of home cooked food fills the room.
Whatever he’s made smells absolutely divine.

Something to my right catches my eye
, and it’s then that I see some candles flickering on a table that’s set up just outside the open patio doors to the back of the cabin.

“It smells delicious,” I say, walking over to him and noticing him glance over his shoulder for a second, throwing a smile my way. “I didn’t realize you were such a good cook!”

“Beautiful, I intend to surprise you every day, for the rest of my life,” he winks, stands in front of me, and moves my hair over my shoulder before leaning and kissing my neck softly.

After pouring some wine for the two of us, Brandon tells me to go and sit at the table he’s set up outside. Candles, flowers, wine … It’s all here. He’s certainly
exceeded all of my expectations, he always does. I thought we’d be grabbing a takeout or something, and snuggling up together on the couch in front of a movie for the evening.

***

“Brandon, really, it’s fine,” I try to reassure him, but it’s no use, he won’t listen no matter how many times I tell him that I wasn’t overly hungry anyway.

Emptying the
food trays into the trash, it does feel like a bit of a shame to be throwing all of this away, especially where he’s gone to a lot of trouble in preparing it all, but then, it does look and taste a bit too, what’s the best words … rubbery and black?

Slumping down on one o
f the bar stools, he looks thoroughly pissed with himself, “You need to eat, Alexis,” he states flatly, resting his chin in his hands and wearing the biggest frown over his face for which I think I’ve ever seen.

“Let’s order a takeout!” I walk over and grab the phone that’s hanging from the wall
, and then glance around for a menu. Seeing him scowling and staying in the same position, I try not to laugh at the way he’s sulking. “Brandon, it wasn’t your fault that the oven miraculously decided to switch itself up to a higher setting.”

“I followed every guideline set out,” he mutters, “everything she told me to—“ realizing he may have just dropped himself in it just a little bit, he stops talking and risks glancing over in my direction with a slight grimace crossing over his face.

“A-hem, what?” I raise my brow and walk over to where he’s sitting.

“Shit!” he laughs out, shaking his head with a smile now beginning to form over his lips, “Alright, I’m busted.” He stands, closes his eyes and hangs his down.

“You didn’t cook all of this yourself?”

Shaking his head again, he starts to chuckle, with a brightness now evident within his eyes, “I had some help, but my intentions were good, I promise!”

Laughing out loud, I pick up the cloth from the side and throw it at him, which causes for him to join in with my amusement, “Who helped you?”

Honestly? It’s nice to know that he wanted to go out of his way and do something so sweet and romantic like this for me.

“Rachael, Holly’s sister,” he answers me, although I’m not so sure why he’s beginning to look uncomfortable and a little unsure about telling me. “She left just before you arrived, I kinda don’t do the whole cooking thing …”

Nodding
at him, I think I can understand why, “If it had have turned out, how would I say this … less
burnt
, would you have told me you’d gotten someone to come and cook the dinner for us?”

“It’s, er … it’s highly unlikely that I would have, so
, um … no.”

“I admire your honesty, well, your eventual honesty anyway,” I smile, grabbing my glass of red and wine from the counter and taking a seat beside him.

“And, I Alexis, admire your … how would I put this …?” he snickers, allowing his eyes to roam over me from head to toe once more, “Your boobies, yep, I think I kinda fell in love with your boobies!”

Smacking him lightly on the arm, I
lean over and kiss him on the cheek. Feeling as he places his hands lightly on to my waist, he pulls me over to him, so I’m standing in-between his now open legs, “I’m so fucking happy that you’re here with me, Alexis,” his voice is almost as low as a whisper.

Running my fingers into his hair, I look down over him and gaze in to his perfect eyes, “You are?” I ask, stroking my fingers gently through his hair, as his hands wander up my body and around my back. He pauses his movements for a second, and it’s then when I feel and hear the zipper of my dress being undone.

“Time for dessert already?” I ask, although his whole face stays as serious as it was when he told me he was glad that I was here with him.

“Most definitely time for dessert,” he answers
with extreme intensity reaching his eyes as he searches mine for a moment. Standing up and turning me around, so that we’re facing in the same direction, I feel his warm breaths breezing over my neck.

Lifting my arms, he slips the dress
over my head and allows it to slide from his fingers and onto the floor, “Brandon, shouldn’t we go somewhere a little more private?” I ask, worried that we’re standing in one of the main rooms of the cabin, with the lights on high and the blinds still wide open.

“Beautiful, there’s no one around for miles, and to be honest, I don’t think I can wait any longer to be inside you,” he mumbles against my left ear, with his breaths sweeping
sweetly over my ear.

Closing my eyes, I relish his touch as he tenderly brushes his fingers aro
und my waist, and then lower, until they softly land on my core. I let out a deep moan of satisfaction when he begins moving his fingers back and forth, and I can feel my own excitement as he dips a finger inside of me, just the one time. I’m sure he can feel how ready I am for him, because he lets out a small growl by my ear as I feel him pulling me back and hard against him.

When he removes his hand from my right hip, I turn my head to the side to see what he’s doing and in that same moment,
I hear the sound of his zipper, before feeling his length brushing over me as his breaths become ragged.

Placing his hands on either side of my waist, he turns me around until
mine are resting on the countertop, with him still standing behind me.

Tracing his fingers lightly down my spine with one hand, as he places his other on my shoulder, I feel
his hard length sliding along my folds a few times, before he presses himself inside of me.

“Damn you feel so fucking good, beautiful,” he groans
, pushing himself deeper inside, with one hand gripping my shoulder, as the other clutches tightly around my waist.

Leaning my hands on the counter
top and standing a little straighter, he moves the hand that was on my shoulder, and wraps it around my neck while pushing harder and deeper inside of me with each thrust, “Brandon,” I moan his name as he removes his other hand from my hip, tracing it higher until he reaches my breast.